Financial Web-site operator Quamnet.com may not take a majority stake in the SAR-listed Wah Fu International Holdings in a proposed share-swap deal, according to Quamnet chief executive Man Chin.
This contradicts market expectations that the company will, through the deal, undertake a reverse-takeover of the listed leather goods manufacturer.
'We have never said we want to acquire a majority stake,' Mr Chin said. 'We only say Wah Fu wants to take at least 51 shares of our company.' Analysts said Quamnet.com could evade stringent regulations by acquiring a lower percentage of shareholdings.
A similar example can be seen in an acquisition of another SAR-listed firm, Hang Fung Gold Technology, last month. In that deal, New Epoch, an Internet company controlled by pro-Beijing businessman Henry Fok Ying-tung's family which acquired a stake in Hang Fung by injecting assets, adjusted its shares acquisition in Hang Fung to 34.1 per cent from an initially planned 53.8 per cent.
The move could help the related company evade the 35 per cent trigger point for a general offer, the analysts said.
It could also avoid a situation where the listed company would be treated by the Securities and Futures Commission as a new listing under the clause of 'a very substantial acquisition'.